Door wide open for churches to minister as non-traditional families increase

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

The fictional Cleaver family of the 1950s-60s television show “Leave It To Beaver” has often been considered the model for the “traditional” family – a working dad, a stay-at-home mom, and children. But research released by the Pew Research Center reveals that the Cleaver model was not really present in their era and it has continued to spiral downward ever since. — Public domain photo

BRENTWOOD — Wally and Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver were blessed six decades ago and they didn’t even know it. Of course, the Cleavers were a fictional television family (“Leave It To Beaver”) first popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s but for a long time they have been a “poster family” for the traditional family unit — a mother and father in their first marriage with children. The dad worked outside the home and the mother stayed home, taking care of the house and children.

Most people assume the make-up of the Cleaver family was typical of the families of their era, but recent research published by the Pew Research Center disputes those assumptions. [Read more…]

NASHVILLE — Nearly half of the background checks requested by churches through LifeWay’s program with backgroundchecks.com reveal some type of criminal offense.

Most of those are minor incidents such as speeding tickets, but 21 percent of inquiries discovered misdemeanors or more serious crimes, LifeWay’s Jennie Taylor said.

Since 2008, when LifeWay began its relationship with backgroundchecks.com, more than 11,300 churches and religious organizations have conducted nearly 230,000 background checks using the program. In the past year, more than 2,100 churches have signed up through the LifeWay ONESource program. [Read more…]

NASHVILLE — Bill Sumners, a Tennessee Baptist and director of Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives since 1988, will retire from his post next July, he recently announced in a letter to the Council of Seminary Presidents, which governs the organization.

“It has been my pleasure and joy to serve in this position, in this place, for most of my career,” Sumners told the CSP.

Since the 1997 reorganization of the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBHLA has been governed by the CSP, comprised of the six SBC seminary presidents. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is also CSP president.

“We are very thankful for Bill Sumners for his many years of service to the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives,” Mohler said. “He has been a key figure in bridging the Southern Baptist past to its present and future. We look forward to recognizing him in the months ahead for his service.”

Sumners said the SBHLA’s “modest” collection in 1983 has grown to become the largest, most diverse and most accessible collection of Baptist material in the world.

Established in 1938 as part of the Southern Baptist Historical Society, the SBHLA maintains thousands of books, Baptist associations’ and state conventions’ annuals, Baptist newspapers, histories of Baptist churches, archival records, and many other Baptist history resources in 10,000 square feet of office space in the SBC building in Nashville, according to its website.

Sumners is a member and Sunday School teacher at Forest Hills Baptist Church, Nashville.

Mohler said the CSP is now about the task of finding Sumners’ successor. As CSP president, Mohler will be receiving all nominations for this very important post, he said.

Candidates for the SBHLA director are required to have a graduate degree in librarianship, Baptist history, or archival studies, with a preference for certified archivists, according to Mohler. Nominations will be received through Dec. 31, and can be mailed to: R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, Council of Seminary Presidents, 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY 40280.

NASHVILLE (BP) — Twenty-three state conventions voted to increase the portion of Cooperative Program receipts being forwarded to Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministries in the coming year, continuing a trend inspired by passage of the Great Commission Task Force recommendations five years ago. This year, Florida Baptists made the largest shift, moving from 41 to 51 percent allocated to SBC causes.

“This epic, pacesetting decision will set a precedent in the Southern Baptist Convention,” said Michael Tatem, president of Florida’s State Board of Missions. “We are doing what the Southern Baptist Convention was called to do in 1845 — to take the Gospel to the nations.” [Read more…]

NASHVILLE — Christmas is a great time to invite someone to church, according to a recent study by Nashville-based LifeWay Research. In a recent poll of 1,000 Americans, LifeWay Research found six out of 10 Americans typically attend church at Christmastime.

But among those who don’t attend church at Christmastime, a majority (57 percent) say they would likely attend if someone they knew invited them.

“Regular churchgoers may assume the rest of America has already made up their mind not to attend church,” said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research. “In reality, many would welcome going to a Christmas service with someone they know.” [Read more…]

NASHVILLE (BP) — Late preaching professor Calvin Miller once quipped to Christianity Today that many Southern Baptist churches “probably could hardly spell Advent” in the early 1990s.

Not so anymore.

LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention has published Advent devotional books and includes tips for observing Advent in at least two holiday magazines this year. North Carolina’s Biblical Recorder newsjournal commends Advent to its readers, offering them a list of Advent resources. And Southern Baptist congregations across America light Advent candles weekly — many of them purchased from LifeWay.

NASHVILLE (BP) — America is launching new Protestant churches faster than it loses old ones, attracting many people who previously didn’t attend anywhere, new LifeWay Research studies show.

More than 4,000 new churches opened their doors in 2014, outpacing the 3,700 that closed, according to estimates from the Nashville-based research organization based on input from 34 denominational statisticians.

And on average 42 percent of those worshipping at churches launched since 2008 previously never attended church or hadn’t attended in many years, LifeWay Research found in an analysis of 843 such churches from 17 denominations and church planting networks.

The church planting study indicates newly planted churches are more effective than existing ones at drawing people who aren’t connected with a church, said Ed Stetzer, LifeWay Research executive director.

“In winning new converts to Christ, church plants are light-years ahead of the average church because of their focus on reaching the unchurched,” Stetzer said.

Characteristics of success

Successful church launches have several factors in common, the 2015 National Church Planting Study shows:

— Meeting in a public space. New churches meeting in schools have significantly higher worship attendance than other new churches. They report more new first-time commitments to Christ and are more likely to become financially self-sufficient.

— Focusing on outreach. New churches offering sports leagues, social gatherings and children’s special events are significantly more likely than other startups to be congregations with a majority of people who previously did not attend church.

— Supporting their leaders. Adequate compensation and health insurance for the church planter are linked to higher worship attendance and a greater likelihood of financial independence for the new church.

— Starting more churches. New churches that invest in church planting and launch at least one additional new church in the first five years report higher worship attendance and more new commitments to Christ.

“Healthy new churches have an outward focus from day one, communicating every month that the goal is to be a multiplying church,” Stetzer said.

Back to basics

Though some pastors bristle at new churches coming into their community, they have more to learn — and less to fear — from the startup down the street, Stetzer said.

One lesson is the value of time-tested methods. While most church plants use the Internet for outreach, 77 percent say word of mouth and personal relationships are the most effective forms of publicity. Only 6 percent say social media is most effective. Nearly two-thirds of new churches (63 percent) say Bible study is their primary small group activity.

“It’s not the most innovative things that matter most. It’s the nuts and bolts,” Stetzer said.

“An existing church can take notice and ask, ‘Hey, are we doing those things? Are we making sure people in the community know we exist? Are we inviting people to come and making them feel welcome and all those things a church plant does?'”

In addition, Stetzer said, new churches can attract demographic groups that may be largely unreached by existing ones. Sixty percent of church plants aim to reach a cross-cultural or multiethnic group of people from the outset.

“It takes multiple methods to reach a diverse population,” Stetzer said. “The United States from its founding has been a very diverse population. A one-size-fits-all church has never been part of the American equation.

“As much as ever, we need different approaches to reach different types of people.”

Additional reports from the study will be available at NewChurches.com.

Methodology: The 2015 National Church Planting Study report analyzes 843 churches started in 2008 or later that continue to exist today. The study was sponsored by 17 denominations and church planting networks that participate in the Church Planting Leadership Fellowship: Assemblies of God, Baptist Missionary Association of America, Center for U.S. Missions (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod), Christian and Missionary Alliance, Converge Worldwide, Evangelical Free Church of America, Free Methodist Church USA, International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Texas District, New Thing Network, North American Mission Board (Southern Baptist Convention), Presbyterian Church in America, Project Jerusalem, Path1 (United Methodist Church), Southern Baptists of Texas, Vineyard Church and The Wesleyan Church. Lists of church plants were provided by the sponsors and the Church of the Nazarene and the Missionary Church. From May-August 2015, planters were individually invited to complete the online survey by email, phone and postcard. Factors associated with church planting success were determined after controlling for church demographics, denomination/church planting network, U.S. state, church planter characteristics and other characteristics.

Estimates of the number of 2014 Protestant church starts and closures are based on unofficial reports LifeWay Research gathered from 34 denominations that represent 55 percent of U.S. Protestant churches. The pattern in this large sample was applied to the non-reporting and non-denominational groups to provide the overall estimate.

CARY, N.C. (BP) — Southern Baptist leaders are responding to the headline “God isn’t fixing this” that dominated the Dec. 3 cover of the New York Daily News. Images of tweets from Republican leaders surrounded the headline, displaying sympathetic “thoughts and prayers” for the people affected by a Dec. 2 mass shooting.

“I’m hard-pressed to think of a more cynical and exploitative headline at a time of national mourning,” Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told the Washington Post.

The massacre occurred in San Bernardino, Calif., at Inland Regional Center, a state-run facility for individuals with developmental disabilities. Two heavily-armed assailants dressed in tactical attire opened fire at a party located inside the building, killing 14 and wounding 17 more, according to the Los Angeles Times. [Read more…]

NASHVILLE — The National Association of Evangelicals and LifeWay Research released an evangelical beliefs research definition Nov. 19 for accurate and consistent use among researchers.

NAE initiated development of the research definition more than two years ago. In partnership with LifeWay Research, the definition was crafted, reviewed, and tested for validity.

Numerous surveys seek to capture the opinions and practices of evangelicals in the United States. From tithing behaviors to political inclinations, evangelicals are regularly identified in research and polls. Because researchers use different tools to identify evangelicals, results vary from poll to poll. Even the estimated number of U.S. evangelicals ranges from 23 percent to 35 percent of American adults. [Read more…]

NASHVILLE — Many women with unplanned pregnancies go silently from the church pew to the abortion clinic, convinced the church would gossip rather than help, a new study by LifeWay Research shows.

More than four in 10 women who have had an abortion were churchgoers when they ended a pregnancy, researchers found in a survey sponsored by Care Net, a nonprofit organization supporting more than 1,100 pregnancy centers across North America.
“That’s a huge opportunity for the church to have an impact on those decisions,” said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research.

But only 7 percent of women discussed their abortion decision with anyone at church. Three-fourths (76 percent) say the church had no influence on their decision to terminate a pregnancy. [Read more…]